ELM-TREE. 



75 



smell or taste, and of avoiding those which are 

 noxious, is very extraordinary, and of great import- 

 ance to them. If all plants were equally wholesome 

 to animals of every kind, some animals might de- 

 prive others of subsistence ; whereas, at present, 

 each kind has its appropriate food, which is agree- 

 able to their sense of smell or taste, and cannot feed 

 on other vegetables without suffering. 



The common Elm-tree, Ul'mus campes'tris, is 

 in the order Digynia of the fifth class. It grows 

 wild in England, and the wood is very serviceable, 

 where it can be kept, constantly, either dry or 

 moist. It is used for water-works, mills, pumps, 

 and keels of boats, from its not being disposed to 

 split or crack ; and coffins also are made of it, be- 

 cause it lasts longer under ground than most other 

 timber. The clearness of the grain makes elm par- 

 ticularly fitted for carved works, and architectural 

 ornaments. Silk-worms devour the tender leaves 

 with great avidity. The flowers have a smell re- 

 sembling that of violets ; in this country, they do 

 not commonly produce perfect seeds, and the 

 tree is propagated by suckers and grafts ; but the 

 seeds have ripened, among other places, at Lea- 

 Park near Canterbury. The city of Ulm, in Ger- 

 many, derives its name from the great number of 

 Elm-trees that grow in its neighbourhood. 



The North American Indians hollow the trunks 

 of the red Elm, Ul'mus america'na, into canoes, 



